This Wednesday, Marvel's Winter Soldier #1, (Ed Brubaker, Butch Guice and Bettie Breitweiser) appeared on the shelves of
my local comic shop. And being one of the most hotly anticipated and vigorously
promoted new books of 2012, it was one I just couldn't resist picking up.
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| Cover of Marvel's Winter Soldier #1, April 2012 |
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| There's a gritty, near photographic realism to Winter Soldier #1, April 2012 |
Like most first issues, there was somewhat of a learning curve to get up with exactly what is happening. I know, I know, this may come as a surprise: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier has been very
active in the Marvel Universe of late. But I've never been the biggest Captain America reader and had to go back and get caught up with the back story to a degree. But after reading the comic, with Civil War and the Death of Captain America fresh in my mind, I realised that wasn't all that necessary. Brubaker's writing pulled me in and kept the action
brisk so that I didn't have time to think about the history of the character. Indeed, the agenda and motivations of Winter Soldier and Black Widow were clear and this, along with the Cold War back story, was more than enough to keep the book moving on its own merits, at times even giving it a Jason Bourne feel.
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| From Marvel's Winter Soldier #1, April 2012 |
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| From Marvel's Winter Soldier #1, April 2012 |
Guice and Breitweiser's art, with its gritty near photographic realism, really worked with the gritty realist nature of the story, and this series although clearly situated in Marvel's superhero
world, has a welcome spy/war comic feel to it. Indeed, at times it actually reminded me a lot of another Brubaker story I've always liked, Gotham Central, which also took place in a world of superheroes yet was not so much about them.
All in all Winter Soldier #1 is a good book even though it will probably take a couple more issues to gather a momentum that will really get me engrossed. That said, the $2.99 price point makes this a real possibility and because of the low price, what would content wise be a 3.5 is actually getting a 4 out of 5 stars.
All in all Winter Soldier #1 is a good book even though it will probably take a couple more issues to gather a momentum that will really get me engrossed. That said, the $2.99 price point makes this a real possibility and because of the low price, what would content wise be a 3.5 is actually getting a 4 out of 5 stars.
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